Alien technology scavenged by U.S. and Russian scientists has started a race to colonize planets outside our solar system - and the U.S. scientists are losing. In a desperate move the U.S. government decides to use a group of Apache volunteers in an experimental attempt to colonize a primitive planet, but before they can even begin their spaceship crashes on the planet Topaz.

Key Out of Time: Time Traders, Book 4

It's a good thing that Time Agents are intensively trained. When Ross Murdock and Gordon Ashe set up a time gate on the alien world of Hawaika for an exploration into its troubling past, they didn't anticipate that a storm would sweep them and their helper Karara Trehern and her two dolphins through it unprepared...and then collapse the gate. Trapped in a time of sword-and-spear technology, they rapidly discover that each of the world's cultures appear to be trying to wipe one another out.

Storm over Warlock

In this story, an alien race known as the "Throgs" attacks a Terran survey camp without warning. "Eye-searing lances of energy lashed back and forth across the base with methodical accuracy, and a single cowering witness, flattened on a ledge in the heights above, knew that when the last of those yellow-red bolts fell, nothing human would be left alive down there."

Plague Ship

Lured by exotic gems and valuable oils, the crew of the space trader Solar Queen landed on the newly discovered planet Sargol only to find their most ruthless competitor there ahead of them. Still, they tried for fair trade, even according to the sly rules of the strangely feline, native Salariki. But after takeoff they found they had a plague on board, the treachery of someone who'd been on Sargol. Although they'd begun to run out of supplies, they couldn't land or they might start an inter-planetary epidemic....

The Time Traders

If it is possible to conquer space, then perhaps it is also possible to conquer time. At least that was the theory American scientists were exploring in an effort to explain the new sources of knowledge the Russians possessed. Perhaps Russian scientists had discovered how to transport themselves back in time in order to learn long-forgotten secrets of the past.

Star Hunter

In this story, a teenage boy suddenly finds himself whisked away for his dead end job on an outlying planet,to a jungle planet where he begins having strange dreams of his past. Suddenly, he finds himself in the middleof a thrill-packed plot involving a criminal mastermind and Rass Hume, the "ouhunterr" who was responsiblefor the sudden change in his fortunes.

The Defiant Agents

The Western Conference discovers the Reds have stolen their alien-source data on a colonizable planet...and so must rush their plans for an expedition. When their spaceship crashes on Topaz, Travis Fox and his party of modern Apache Indians, reverted to their tribal ancestral memories, find they have already been beaten there. And they must deal with more than Reds - for the Reds have brought along reverted members of Ghenghis Khan's Mongol Horde!

The Time Traders

The young man in question, Ross Murdock, is about to embark upon the adventure of his life. In order to avoid prosecution, he reluctantly joins Operation Retrograde, whose members are exploring various time periods. Their goal? To find out where – and when – the ‘Reds’ are obtaining certain scientific breakthroughs, in order to maintain the balance of global power. An outsider in his own time, Ross becomes an outsider in other times as well, and faces one challenge after another.

Voodoo Planet

In this sequel to Plague Ship, Voodoo Planet finds the Solar Queen banned from trade and starting her supposed quiet two-year stint as an interstellar mail carrier. But instead her crew accepts a visit to the safari planet of Khatka, where they find themselves caught in a battle between the forces of reason and the powers of Khatka’s mind-controlling wizard.

Lone Star Planet

New Texas: its citizens figure that name about says it all. The Solar League ambassador to the Lone Star Planet has the unenviable task of convincing New Texans that a s'Srauff attack is imminent, and dangerous. Unfortunately it's common knowledge that the s'Srauff are evolved from canine ancestors - and not a Texan alive is about to be scared of a talking dog. But unless he can get them to act, and fast, there won't be a Texan alive, scared or otherwise.

People of the Crater

Garin Featherstone has been sent to explore a mysterious blue haze that was spotted in the polar region. There he discovers a lost civilization and a strange environment of vivid green lands, crimson tree trunks, and golden rivers. He must save Thrala of the light against the lizard men.

The Beast Master

Left homeless by the war that reduced Terra to a radioactive cinder, Hosteen Storm - Navaho commando and master of beasts - is drawn to the planet Arzor, to kill a man he has never met. On that dangerous frontier world, aliens and human colonists share the land in an uneasy truce. But something is upsetting the balance, and Storm is caught in the middle. He had thought the war was over - but was it?

Year of the Unicorn: Witch World, Book 3

Andre Norton enthralled readers for decades with thrilling tales of people challenged to the limits of their endurance in epic battles of good against evil. None are more memorable than her Witch World novels. Far from the besieged home of Simon and Jaelithe, in peaceful Norsdale, we meet Gillan, who longs to leave her dull life in a secluded country abbey. But when her wish comes true, she finds more than a little adventure.

Web of the Witch World: Witch World, Book 2

The Kolder linger on, a constant threat to Simon and the witches he's sworn to protect. To save their world from this threat from another dimension, Simon and Jaelithe must venture to the heart of the poisonous Kolder realm and vanquish them for good, or witness the enslavement of their world.

Witch World

Simon Tregarth, a man from our own world, escapes his doom through the gates to the Witch World. There he aids the witch Jaelithe's escape from the hounds of Alizon, only to find himself embroiled in a deeper war against an even deadlier foe: the Kolder.

Lord of Thunder: Beast Master Chronicles, Book 2

Storm's beast master skills and animal partners are needed to unravel the mystery behind a huge gathering of indigenous Norbies. Only Storm and Logan Quade can penetrate the Norbie's clan secrets and discover what is behind the threat of an uprising that could destroy the tenuous peace between the colonists and the aliens who share the planet.

Thuvia, Maid of Mars

Mars has become divided by love. Not one, but two princes and a Jeddak are vying for the love of Thuvia of Ptarth. When she is mysteriously kidnapped, treachery threatens to throw Barsoom into bloody war. Now Cathoris must follow in the footsteps of his father, John Carter, and overcome phantom armies, dangerous spies and savage beasts as he attempts to save his true love and reunite Mars.

Star Surgeon

When Dal Timgar, of all his medical class, was denied assignment to a general practice patrol ship going out from Hospital Earth to serve the medical needs of the Galactic Confederation, it seemed to him that his eight years of study in the great medical center of the galaxy had ended in failure. He had worked hard and stood at the head of his class, but Dal was different from his medical colleagues in one important way: he was the first son of an alien race to attempt to become a qualified physician of Hospital Earth.

First Lensman: Lensman Series

In the not-too-distant future, while fleets of commercial space ships travel between the planets of numerous solar systems, a traveler named Virgil Samms visits the planet Arisia. There, he becomes the first wearer of the Lens, the almost-living symbol of the forces of law and order. As the first Lensman, Samms helps to form the Galactic Patrol, a battalion of Lensmen who are larger-than-life heroes. These soldiers are the best of the best, with incredible skill, stealth, and drive.

Galactic Patrol: Lensman Series

The Galactic Patrol's Lensmen are the most feared peacekeepers in the galaxy. The "Lens", a telepathic jewel matched to the ego of its wearer, is the ultimate weapon in the war against the merciless pirate Boskone and his forces of lawlessness. The only problem is the Galactic Patrol isn't sure how to capitalize on the Lens' incredible powers. But new graduate Kimball Kinnison is determined to learn.

Way Station

In this Hugo Award-winning classic, Enoch Wallace is an ageless hermit, striding across his untended farm as he had done for over a century, still carrying the gun with which he had served in the Civil War. But what his neighbors must never know is that, inside his unchanging house, he meets with a host of unimaginable friends from the farthest stars.

Four-Day Planet

Fenris isn't a hell planet, but it's nobody's bargain. With 2,000-hour days and an 8,000-hour year, it alternates blazing heat with killing cold. A planet like that tends to breed a special kind of person: tough enough to stay alive and smart enough to make the best of it. And when that kind of person discovers he's being cheated out of wealth he's risked his life for, that kind of planet is ripe for revolution.

The Rolling Stones

One of Heinlein's best-loved works, The Rolling Stones follows the rollicking adventures of the Stone family as they tour the solar system. It doesn't seem likely for twins to have the same middle name. Even so, it's clear that Castor and Pollux Stone both have "Trouble" written in that spot on their birth certificates. Of course, anyone who's met their grandmother Hazel would know they came by it honestly.

The Colors of Space

In The Colors of Space, young Bart Steele, Space Academy graduate, is waiting in a spaceport for a ship to take him home when something happens that suddenly thrusts him into the center of a quest for the secret of interstellar travel. The method of faster than light travel, called "warp drive" in later Sci-Fi stories, is a tightly kept secret of alien race known as the "Lhari."

Audible Editor Reviews

Andre Norton made a lasting mark on the 20th century's fantasy and sci-fi scene. This is especially impressive considering that Norton, whose given first name was Alice, was writing in a male-dominated genre. The Defiant Agents follows up on the time traveling adventures described in the "Forerunner" series. Flavored by Cold War sensibilities, this audiobook takes listeners to distant planets where Apache volunteers are sent on a government mission.

Paul Boehmer, a 2003 Audie Finalist, brings a pulpy enthusiasm to his performance. In a voice both classic and "action hero", Boehmer's dramatic mastery of dialogue is especially compelling.

Publisher's Summary

Alien technology scavenged by U.S. and Russian scientists has started a race to colonize planets outside our solar system - and the U.S. scientists are losing. In a desperate move the U.S. government decides to use a group of Apache volunteers in an experimental attempt to colonize a primitive planet, but before they can even begin their spaceship crashes on the planet Topaz.

The Defiant Agents is the third book in Andre Norton’s TIME TRADERS series about a secret United States government program that uses time travel to solve geopolitical problems, especially those involving the Cold War with the Russians. In the first book, The Time Traders, we met Ross Murdock, a criminal who avoided his sentence by signing on with the Time Traders and discovering the source of the Russians’ new powers. In the second book, Galactic Derelict, we met Travis Fox, an Apache who joined the Time Traders and was sent to recover an alien spaceship.

In this third book, the United States has tossed all ethics out the window and decided that the end justifies the means. They’ve used a process called Redax on Travis Fox and some other unknowing Apache volunteers which causes them to forget their modern selves and embrace their inner Apache. The government sends them to a newly discovered primitive planet where they hope the Apaches, now channeling their ancestors, will be able to subdue it. Meanwhile the Russians have used the same process on the descendents of the Mongols and sent them to the same planet. Thus we have a U.S. /Russian war being fought between Apaches and Mongols on a distant world.

Sounds a little silly, but if you can get past the premise (which I had trouble doing), you’ll find a story containing the kind of action and angst that Andre Norton’s fans love. There are even telepathic wolves, which is really cool. This is not one of Norton’s best stories, however. It doesn’t at all feel organic and, with the exception of Travis Fox, the “Reds” and “Mongols” are simply stereotypes. It feels more like Norton wanted to write a story about Native Americans in a science fiction context and, indeed, I’ve read in several places that this book was written after one of Norton’s friends complained that there were no science fiction books where Native Americans were the protagonists.

I’m looking forward to book four, Key Out of Time, which again focuses on Ross Murdock. I want to find out about the advanced alien race that may be providing technology to the Russians.

All of the books in the TIME TRADERS series are now in the public domain and can be found for free online. I bought the free Kindle version and then used the Whispersync deal to buy the audio version with Paul Boehmer’s narration for $1.99. I’d recommend this version if you want to read The Defiant Agents.

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